Spend record for sunny coast

The Sunshine Coast attracted a 45% increase in expenditure (to $266.5 million) by international tourists in the year to September 2016, an all-time record for the region.Extension of Air New Zealand’s direct flights saw 21.3% growth in holiday visitors from New Zealand, and overall Kiwi visitor growth of 11.6% (to a total of 66,000 annually).The sharp rise in spending was revealed in the International Visitor Survey (IVS) released this week by Tourism Research Australia. The record expenditure figures were built on a 6.4% growth in international visitors (to 272,000), with holiday visitors up 9%. Holiday visitors also stayed considerably longer – up 27.9% - to an average 7.8 nights per stay and expenditure grew 19.5% to $89.3 per night.

The star inbound performer for the Sunshine Coast was once again the United States of America (up 40% for the year), with the rise of the US dollar and the ‘Bindi factor’ (Bindi Irwin’s high profile in the 2015 US version of Dancing with the Stars) having time to significantly influence 2016 travel decisions. The uncertainty caused by Brexit and the mooted backpacker tax, along with a sharp decline in the pound may have influenced a 7.1% fall in UK holiday visitors, but German holidaymakers continued their strong growth, with an increase of 12.2% for the year. Visit Sunshine Coast’s increased marketing and targeting of Asia produced solid results, with 24% growth in Asian visitors.